Jiwa Taiko (2012)

Sex with strangers: Nadiya Nisaa and Bront Palarae.

At a glance:

I think we have to get to the bad news in the first paragraph itself. If you too thought Osman Ali's Jiwa Taiko (2012) was gonna right all the wrongs in Anak Halal (2009) and combine with the box office sensibilities of KL Gangster (2011), then we're all the same fools who didn't know that fantastic poster actually reads "Jiwang Taiko" ("sentimental triad boss"). Yes, this is a pretty naive outin from the Nuansa stable that has angered no small number of regular Malay cinemagoers, thanks to a grossly misleadin marketin campaign that sought to mask the melodramatic tripe it really is. We follow convalescent ex-con Remy Ishak and his merry band of welfare home misfits as they do battle against his former crime partner Bront Palarae. Throw in a love rectangle or two (could well be a pentagon or hexagon even), some pseudo-silat elements and there you have it - a badly edited RM 620,000 box office disaster. Maybe some of the psychotropic drugs in the movie could help alleviate the shame of havin been outgrossed by M Subash's farcical horror You Believe In Ghost? (2012). My heart goes out to Osman Ali who seems perpetually uninspired in familiar territory.

SOCKKK!!! KAPOWWW!!! BISHHH!!!
Okay, break for lunch!

Bad news on the doorstep:

Like I said - put simply, nobody is buyin the story. Should've kept its old title - Bara Jiwa.

Perennial wonderment:

Apparently some steamy scenes were snipped, so how does a wide-release poster with Bront Palarae prominently holdin a cigarette get passed? I remember the magazine I was with, we were receivin warnin letters from the Home Ministry over a tiny movie still of Tarantino's Grindhouse (2007) in which someone is holdin a cigarette. Guess they're still makin it up on the go.

Reminds me of:

Anti-AIDS and anti-drugs community service ads from Malaysia's 90s.

Watch out for:

I have some sympathy for Bront Palarae, who relishes these psychotic antagonist roles and acts his heart out here. His take on a skinny, doped-up gangster is done with conviction, even if it's actually nothin we ain't seen 30 years ago in Hong Kong triad movies. I guess we have to really scrape the bottom of the barrel for any positivity in a paper-thin script like this. Special mention here for Nadiyatul Nisaa a.k.a. Nadiya Nisaa who plays problem girl Lara. The poor girl is completely out of her depth, although her beauty mole does exude some dirty girl appeal, sorta like a Malay Blake Lively. I shit you not, this Malaysian Film Festival Pelakon Harapan winner for Cun (2011) would've done better for herself if she turned in a mute performance, instead of shriekin English lines like "I need to think!!!" and bein generally very annoyin at a high-pitch.

"How do you know it was me
who passed the herpes to you?"

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Readin Osman Ali's defence doesn't help. The jury is already out on its Facebook fan page. Both action and romance border on comical farce. Gratuitous huggin and kissin invoke the wrath of more conservative audiences but on merit alone, this is an insult to the rudimentary plebeian tastes of an already undemandin target crowd. What a huge disappointment.★1/2

Bonus material:

A missed opportunity.

Chow Kit (2012)

Lana Nordin: "Kemaruk dengan tetek aku ni ada lah..."
Airis Yasmin: "Susah cakap dengan perempuan macam kamu ni lah."

What about the rest of the cast?

At a glance:

Remember Chloë Sevigny bein HIV-fucked on a livin room couch in Larry Clark's seminal Kids (1995)? A lot of dispute as to the creative origins behind this piecemeal Primeworks film, so you'd think this was a movie to really boast about. Immediately recallin the urban grime from the awesome Songlap (2011), I thought Chow Kit (2012) would be a respectable addition to the canon of new crime films from Malaysia - you know, those featurin cash-strapped anti-heroes who are poised to die sad, unpopular endings. On that count, Chow Kit succeeds twice - it's actually two flimsily related stories, bridged only by a disconnected token character or two. The first half, a second directorial run-out for Hooperz (2010) helmer Rosihan Zain a.k.a Dhojee, is about a group of Malay kids whose parents are either drug addicts or prostitutes. The second half, by Brando Lee, is about a strugglin Chinese ex-con whose newfound girlfriend's virginity is about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by her uneducated ex-whore mum.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Malaysia's answer to Larry Clark's Kids (1995)?

Remember Sudirman's Chow Kit Road lyrics:
"Ada yang cuti mata..."

The concept's coherence really is superficial and the two-part idea comes off more like a desperate damage control manouevre, written in to save both movies rather than a layered crime drama that was intentionally halved. Although this isn't the case, the final product is dodgy at best. Nevertheless, the Malay first half had more goin for it than the Chinese second, simply because the children were easier to root for, despite both halves havin their fair share of bad actors with lousy lines, not to mention puzzlin character arcs. Truth be told, besides the erroneous approach in coachin them, the kids are unfortunately poor actors, even pack leader Izzam Syafiq who tried the hardest. Superfluous roles in Chow Kit include Yasmin Hani as a seller of krim pengetat faraj and various cure-all batin medicine, Beto Qusyairy as a pointless sidekick gangster, Hairie Othman as an unexplained, pencil-pushin welfare officer and Dira Abu Zahar as a sympathetic retired whore far too removed from the main story. Too many loose ends, too little real emotion. There were plenty of chances in the movie to make a strong connection between the characters and the interestin, nasty, slummy things they do but none were taken. Perhaps, only Namron, playin a druggie dad who gets his kids to steal shoes from the mosque, made a difference with his role. For the Chinese story, it's simply too generic to be memorable, although lead actor Mers Sia managed some presence.

Chen Puie Heng & Dira Abu Zahar

Perennial wonderment:

How many Malaysians today actually know that Chow Kit - Kuala Lumpur's seediest spot in bygone days - is named after the tin miner and municipality councillor Loke Chow Kit? T'was a stampin ground where the characters played by Razib Salimin and Chen Puie Heng (the only credible ones next to Namron) could believably call home.

Lana Nordin downblouse. Thank you, Sarawak.

Reminds me of:

When I see aimless Malay kids who aren't the menacin type, I always think of the kid with Sudirman in Kami (1982).

Watch out for:

Lana Nordin's monster tits. When I first heard about her bein cast in Chow Kit, I tweeted about how they should put them to good cinematic use. How odd to watch this movie a few years later, and to see the filmmakers obligin, with a full downblouse close-up on beads of sweat drippin down the sweet, swollen breasts of the endowed Kuching-born actress often dubbed Malaysia's Pamela Anderson. For the record, she actually acted well. Her most compellin, self-affirmin line was: "Kau ingat kita tinggal di mana? Taman Melawati? Taman Tun? Kalau dia tak tengok tetek saya, dia tengok tetek betina lain." Real classy. Catch her next in Ponti V Omi and Lagenda Budak Setan 2.

Mers Sia & Beto Qusyairy

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Like thatmoviebloggerfella, I too commend Chow Kit (2012) for havin its "heart in the right place", despite an abundance of bum notes that contributed to the ignominy of it postin less than half a million ringgit across 71 screens. How can a movie with two rape scenes be so underhit? I'm certainly not among the kindly few who call it better than Anak Halal (2008), let alone Malaysia's own City Of God (2002). A definitive Malaysian streets movie remains unmade.★★
Bonus material:

Yasmin Hani pretends she doesn't use bedroom boosters in Chow Kit (2012).